UK Catering trade needs to wake up and smell the potential from Vegetarian & Vegan health food and whole food market

[Guest guest]

Caterers, foodservice bosses and restaurateurs are still failing to seize opportunities and exploit the rising consumer trends in ethically produced health food. Foods for Life is urging the catering industry to attend an ethical living food festival in Bristol UK for inspiration on the sustainable Date Released: 03/28/2007 Caterers, foodservice bosses and restaurateurs are still failing to seize opportunities and exploit the rising consumer trends and interest in ethically produced health foods. London nutrition and food consultants Foods for Life is urging the catering industry to attend a ethical living festival in Bristol to discover what’s happening at grass roots and get a taste of where the ethical health

food and vegetarian / vegan wholefood market is heading. Despite a wave of enthusiasm for healthier eating generated by TV programs such as Channel 4 Jamie’s Dinners, You Are What You Eat, BBC The Truth About Food, The Diet Doctors and Richard and Judy with The Food Doctor, caterers and foodservice are still failing to move forward fast enough say Foods for Life. ‘Mainstream restaurants will continue to lose their share of the available business unless they keep up with the supermarkets’ says Foods for Life nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston. ‘Vegetarian options although vastly improved are still lacking imagination, often full of saturated animal fat from cheese or dairy and too low in protein to be credibly classed as a healthy option’ Health food market analyst and writer Tony Bishop-Weston advises ‘It’s important that UK chefs get out of their kitchens and find out what’s going on in the big wide world outside. International events such as the

Bristol Vegan Fayre offer invaluable opportunities for inspiration, sourcing new suppliers and ingredients and gaining a useful insight into where the healthy eating market is heading.’ Caterers are also advised make better use of well publicised national awareness weeks such as Organic Food Week, National Allergy Week or National Vegetarian Week to try out new ideas and dishes for consumers. Diners are clearly increasingly disenchanted with dishes that don’t match up to the standards they see on TV or can put together in their own homes from components they can buy in supermarkets. Analysis of the dining out market show that the market value is only being maintained by increases in turnover by the top 10% gourmet end of the market. In real terms the bulk of the restaurant market is in decline. The trendy new Bristol City waterfront with it’s crowd pulling new restaurants and bars, is home to the event of the year for ethical, environmentally friendly and

fairly traded products and services. The 9th and 10th of June are red letter days and a rare opportunity for caterers to find out what’s exciting thousands of consumers eager to find out more about ethical living and lifestyles sympathetic to the environment. This unique international ethical living food festival is called the Bristol Vegan Fayre and the 5th event organised by Tim Barford from Yaoh hemp foods and hemp cosmetics. This year the vegan festival is over two days rather than one, in a new more central location and has many new features such as a complementary and alternative therapy area, a ethical fashion clothes show, a new cookery demonstration area, a hemp expo, live bands, a whole line up of family entertainment, and many new exhibitors and high profile speakers. Vegan products and services are riding on the crest of a wave this year. Products such as vegan caviar, Beanies Dairy Free ice cream, Plamils Chocolate and Mayonnaise, Redwoods ready

cooked vegan sausages, fish alternatives and high protein meat free chicken style pieces, and wheat free, dairy free, egg free cakes are capturing consumer’s hearts as they look for products that can satisfy their hunger and enthusiasm for a healthier, more ethical lifestyle with a reduced carbon footprint. The vegan diet seems to have finally reached critical mass as predicted by many market analysts. Driven by a concern over the environment and increased awareness about the links between diet and health veganism has been enjoying outstanding positive coverage in the press and media. Vegan lifestyles and diets have featured on BBC TV on programmes such as Newsnight and The Truth About Food and even featured in remarks from a UK government minister for the environment that suggested if we really cared about the environment and reducing carbon footprints we should go vegan rather than worry about air miles. Sales of vegan products and services have

never been so high and seeing year on year increases that are the envy of other parts of the food industry. Caterers serious about targeting the ethical consumer would be more than well advised to take up this opportunity to investigate so many cutting edge exhibitors gathered together in one place. Editor’s Notes Organiser - Tim Barford – www.Yaoh.co.uk Website www.bristolveganfayre.co.uk Tel : +44 (0)117 9239053 Email: info(at)yaoh.co.uk Bristol Vegan Fayre sponsorship, advertising and exhibitor details http://www.bristolveganfayre.co.uk/promotional/bvf_promo-pack.zip About PEA PR Ethical PR and marketing for fairly traded, environmentally friendly, organic, sustainably produced, healthy, free from, vegetarian, vegan, food products and food supplements. Submitted by PEA PR Number of Views: 130Peter H

 

The all-new Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider.